In an effort led by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., half of the U.S. Senate is pushing the NFL to change the name of the Washington Redskins football team, bluntly calling it a “racial slur.”

Maria Cantwell is leading the latest effort to change the name of the Washington Redskins. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Forty-nine senators, including Washington state’s Patty Murray and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., signed on to a letter sent Wednesday to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, charging him to take a stand against racism in sports — more than the NFL’s proposed ban on using the N-word on the gridiron.

“Now is the time for the NFL to act,” the letter states. “The Washington, D.C., football team is on the wrong side of history. What message does it send to punish slurs against African-Americans while endorsing slurs against Native Americans?”

The Redskins have used the racially charged nickname since they were renamed from the Boston Braves in 1933, and kept the name when the team moved to D.C. five years later. Controversy has surrounded the Redskins name since at latest the 1980s, when protests broke out after the team’s victory in Super Bowl XXII, and legislators have periodically encouraged a name change since the early 1990s.

Every attempt, however, has been unsuccessful. Cantwell, former chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, last sent a letter to Goodell in February. But the recent uproar over racist comments by Donald Sterling, owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, spurred her and other senators to make more noise.

After audio tapes were made public last month revealing Sterling’s prejudices against black people, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver took a hard-line stand against Sterling, banning him from NBA events and scheduling a vote by the league’s Board of Governors to potentially force him to sell the Clippers.

“Today, we urge you and the National Football League to send the same clear message as the NBA did: that racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports,” Cantwell’s letter states. “It’s time for the NFL to endorse a name change for the Washington, D.C., football team.

“The despicable comments made by Mr. Sterling have opened up a national conversation about race relations. We believe this conversation is an opportunity for the NFL to take action to remove the racial slur from the name of one of its marquee franchises.”

All signees to the letter are Democrats, with only two Democratic senators — Time Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia — missing from the bill. ESPN reported that Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., sent a separate letter to Goodell calling for a name change.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder has remained opposed to renaming his team. In a statement released Thursday in response to the latest senators’ letter, the NFL stood by Snyder.

“The NFL has long demonstrated a commitment to progressive leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion, both on and off the field,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “The intent of the team’s name has always been to present a strong, positive and respectful image. The name is not used by the team or the NFL in any other context, though we respect those that view it differently.”